Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes In World War II (Transitions--Asia and Asian America)

But the downside is the author's attempt to explain why the Japanese acted as they did, as if doing so will somehow make us view the Japanese army as something more than the monsters they were. Though Tanaka probaly doesn't mean to, he comes across as making excuses for the Japanese military's barbarism. Nevertheless, when he moves beyond fact description and into analysis, his intentions seem ambiguous at best. But overall, a good read.


OK   April 8, 2002
 17 out of 26 found this review helpful

Interesting info, but author seems to try and make the point the Japanese did nothing worse than others have done thru out history.


Nauseating, shocking, necessary reading about WWII   January 29, 2002
 52 out of 56 found this review helpful

Japanese ex-pat professor (he lives in Austrailia) desribes in stomach turning detail the crimes of Imperial Japanese forces in WWII. While I knew some of the things done, I had no idea the extent and depth of the crimes committed.

Tanaka describes in pages NOT FOR THE TIMID READER the Japanese high command's plan for using cannabalism to feed their troops in the southern arc of their conquest plans. It wasn't just enemy troops who were on the menu, but low-ranking Japanese ground-pounders. I will spare the detail, but Tanaka doesn't, so be warned.

I give this book only 4 stars because it has one serious flaw. Tanaka makes the laughable, morally unsustainable claim that the atomic bombings are morally equivalent to Japanese crimes. This will rightly outrage every American, but it doesn't tarnish the overall effort.

Professor Tanaka is to be congratulated for his courage in revealing the worst things committed by his people. Things that many in Japan, especially school textbooks, refuse to admit. I don't think it coincidence that the good professor lives in the Land Down Under.


Important Book to Read even if Author is Lightweight   January 5, 2001
 27 out of 28 found this review helpful

This is an important book to read to further an understanding of the magnitude of Japanese war crimes in WWII. The author touches on the fact that these war crimes were part of a pattern of inhumanity; not simply isolated incidents of criminality, but an artifact of Japanese culture which demanded subservience of the individual for the sake of "social harmony". Individual morality or even a desire for morality can play no role in such a regime. Interestingly, even the author provides names of officers , but for the most part treats the enlisted men who carried out the barbarous orders not as men but as mere cogs.

The scary thing is that what was previously demanded is still encouraged as socially desirable -- still for the sake of "social harmony." This means that there is an unwillingness to broach ugly topics like grandpa's inhumanity, thus it is unlikely that books such as this will ever provoke the soul searching that has taken place in other countries that have thrown off fascism or otherwise confronted their past.


Why is this such a controversial subject?   May 25, 2000
 34 out of 38 found this review helpful

If the reader from Massachusetts had written what he did about Nazi Germany he'd be mercilessly ridiculed. Why is it so difficult for people to believe that the Japanese also committed heinous atrocities? That is downplayed in our society a great deal... perhaps if we bring attention to it we are perceived as racist. As a Granddaughter of two British POW's held in the Stanley camp, I can only say that apologists in this matter do themselves a great disservice as well, as the truth is required to make certain camps like these never appear again in any future war. Books like this are helpful in that regard.